Wirebound crate



March 12, 1963 A. N. DEDMON wmmaounn CRATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

Filed Jan. 9, 1959 INVENTOR: ARTHUR N. DEDMON W ATT'YS A. N. DEDMONWIREBOUND CRATE March 12,1963

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .1. m u m d m m F FIG. 6

ATT 'YS United States Patent 3,080,992 WIREBOUND CRATE Arthur N. Dedmon,Milan, Tenn; James F. Dcdmon,

administrator of said Arthur N. Dedmon, deceased, assignor to Milan BoxCorporation, Milan, Tenn., a corporation of Tennessee Filed Jan. 9,1959, Ser. No. 785,897 4 Claims. (Cl. 217-48) This invention relates ingeneral to a wirebound crate, and more particularly to a wirebound cratethat can be shipped to a location of use in knocked down condition whereit may be easily assembled -for use as a shipping crate for shippinggoods to a place of use.

The wirebound crate of the present invention includes a pallet, a mathaving hingedly connected panels for attachment to the pallet andenclosing the crate on three sides, a panel means for closing the crateon the fourth side, and a top panel overlying the side panels. Thepallet is peripherally rabbeted for coac'ting with locking cleats on themat and the panel means whereby the mat and panel means will interlockwith the pallet. Columnar members are secured to the panels on the matand extend from the upper edges of the panels downwardly to the bottomof the pallets, and serve to greatly enhance the strength of theassembled wirebound crate whereby it may be used for shipping goods ofconsiderable weight.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a wireboundcrate that can be shipped in several pieces in complete knocked downcondition to a destination of use where it may then be easily assembledfor packaging of goods to be shipped subsequently to a destination ofuse.

Another object of this invention is in the provision of a wireboundcrate that can be shipped in knocked down condition and easilyassembled, whereby the assembled crate can withstand tremendous stressesand serve to package goods of considerable weight. 1

, A still further object of this invention resides in the provision of awirebound crate that may be easily assembled from a number of pieces andwhich is adaptable for use in packaging goods of considerable weight,and is adapted to be easily handled for movement from one place toanother.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wirebound crate havingseveral components which may be easily shipped to a destination of useincluding a pallet, a mat capable of defining three walls of the crate,a panel means for defining the other walls of the crate, and a top panelfor enclosing the top of the crate.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like referencenumerals refer to like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of the wire-- bound crateaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the pallet utilized in the wirebound crateof the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a [fragmentary enlarged sectional view illustrating a detailof the crate, and taken substantially along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an inside plan view of the mat utilized in the wirebound crateof the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a mat having another form ofpanel means for enclosing the mat; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view like FIG. 5, illustrating still anotherform of panel means for enclosing the mat around the pallet.

Referring now to the drawings, and especially to FIG. 1, the Wire-boundcrate of the present invention includes generally a pallet 10, a mat 11for forming three side walls of the crate, a panel means or front panel12 [for forming the other panel of the crate, and a top panel 13 forenclosing the top of the crate.

The pallet 10 includes spaced, parellel rails 14, 15 and 16, and crossslats 17, I8, 19 and 20 overlying the rails and extendingperpendicularly thereto. 'Fasteners, such as nails 21, secure the crossslats to the rails and provide a rigid pallet structure. The spacing ofthe rails '14, 15 and 16 permits the use of a fork lift truck forhandling of the wirebound crate when it is completely assembled andcontains goods. Although the cross slats are shown slightly spaced fromeach other, they may be enlarged in Width and in abutting relationshipwith each other if desired.

The pallet 10 is peripheral-1y rabbeted, wherein the opposite ends ofthe cross slats are rabbeted at 22, and the outer longitudinal edges ofthe outermost slats 17 and 20 are rabbeted at 23. The rabbeted ends ofthe cross slats overlie the rails 14 and .16 and define therewithgrooves 24. Similarly, the rabbeted edges of the cross slats 17 and 20define grooves with the end portions of the rails by over-lying same.

Referring now to FIGS. '1 and 4, the mat 11 includes panels 25, 26 and27 hingedly connected together. Each panel includes an upper cleat 28, apair of intermediate cleats 29, and a lower locking cleat 30. All of thecleats are horizontally extending and parellel to each other andarranged on the inside of the mat. A pair of spaced vertical slats 3 1and 32 are secured to the opposite ends of the cleats by suitablefasteners 33. The slats 31 and 32 are parallel to each other andperpendicular to the cleats. Diagonally arranged bracing slats 34 and 35are secured to the outer sides of the cleats to form an X- shaped braceand further ri-gidify the panels. It may he noted that the locking cleat36 is smaller in width than the other cleats, and sized to be receivedin the grooves 24 of the peripherally rabbeted pallet, FIG. 3. Bindingwires 36 are suitably secured to the outer sides of the panels along thecleats, as seen most clearly in FIG. 1. The binding Wires are continuousalong the panels thereby hingedly connecting the panels together, andterminate at opposite ends in loops or rock fasteners 37.

Columnar members or vertical stiles 38 are secured to the outer sides ofthe panels 25 and 27 thereby further enhancing the strength of the matstructure, but serving to enhance the overall strength of the assembledcrate and give floor support to the opposite sides of the crate. Thesecolumnar members extend from the top edges of the panels 25 and 27downwardly to the bottom of the pallet and engage the surface upon whichthe pallet is supported. Accordingly, loads transmitted to the panels 25and 27 of the mat are supported by the columnar members 38.

The front panel or panel means 12, as seen in FIG. 1, includes an uppercleat 39, intermediate cleats 40, and a lower locking cleat 41 extendinghorizontally and parallel to each other, outer vertical slats 42 and 43secured to the opposite ends of the cleats, diagonal bracing slats 44arranged on the outer sides of the cleats and secured thereto, andbinding wires 45 secured to the outer side of the panel and along thecleats longitudinal axes. Loops or rock fasteners 46 are provided at theopposite ends of the binding wires and protruding from the outermostedges of the slats 42 and 43. These loops coact with the loops 37 on themat for fastening the front panel 12 to the mat and the pallet. Thelower locking cleat 41 is smaller in width than the other cleats andcapable of being received in the groove formed by the rabbeted pallet.The rock fasteners are secured together in a manner well known in theart.

The top panel 13 includes inner cleats 47 and outer slats 48 extendingperpendicular to the cleats and secured thereto. The cleats 47 areparallel to each other, and the slats 48 are parallel to each other, andthe outermost cleats 47 are arranged to be received within the confinesof the mat 11, whereby the outermost edges of the outermost cleats 47engage the inner surfaces of the mat cleats 28.

In assembling the wirebound crate of the present invention from theknocked down position, the met 11 is arranged so that the three panels25, 26 and 27 extend around three sides of the pallet and the respectivelocking cleats 30 are in engagement with the respective rabbetedportions of the pallet for interlocking the pallet and mat together. Ifdesired, fasteners may be employed to further secure the mat to thepallet. The front panel then may be arranged over the fourth side of thecrate to define the fourth side wall whereby the lower locking cleat 41is received in the grooves formed by the rabbeted cross slats of thepallet and the rails. Then, the rock fasteners may be secured togetherthereby firmly securing the front panel or panel means 12 to the palletand the mat. Goods may be packed in the crate prior to mounting of thefront panel 12 on the mat and pallet. Finally, the top panel 13 may bearranged over the open top of the crate and then secured to the upperends of the mat structure and front panel 12.

One important usage of the wirebound crate of the present invention isfor shipping automobile body glass, wherein corrugated board may be usedto cushion the glass from the various components of the crate, and aspecial mounting provided for preventing the shifting of the glasswithin the wirebound crate during shipment thereof. The automobile bodyglass is of considerable weight, but the construction of the wireboundcrate of the present invention is such as to be capable of easilyhandling such weight.

Referring now to FIG. 5, another form of panel means may be provided inplace of the panel means 12, and which is generally designated by thenumeral 12A. This panel means includes a pair of doors or panels 49 and50 of half size relative to the panel 12 of FIG. 1. In this embodiment,the binding wires 36 of the mat are extended to include securement tothe doors 49 and 50 and thereby hingedly connect the doors to the matstructure. Each door includes an upper cleat 51, intermediate cleats 52,a lower locking cleat 53, opposed vertical slats 54 and 55, and adiagonally extending bracing slat 56. The ends of the binding wires 36extending across the doors 49 and 50 terminate in loops 57 defining rockfasteners for securing the inner ends of the doors together whenmounting the mat and doors on a pallet.

Still another form of panel means for enclosing the mat structure isillustrated in FIG. 6 and generally designated by the numeral 12B. Thispanel is identical to the panel 12 of FIG. 1, and therefore will carrysimilar numerals to indicate similar parts, and differs therefrom inthat one end of the panel is hingedly connected to one end of the mat.This is easily accomplished by merely extending the binding wires 36from one end of the mat over the outer side of the panel 123. Thebinding wires terminate at the free end of the panel 12B and loops 58and at the other end of the mat in loops 59 to define rock fasteners forfastening the free end of the panel 12B to the free end of the mat.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention, but it is understood that this application is to be limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A wirebound crate adapted to be received on a fiat supportingsurface, said crate comprising a pallet, a mat having three hingedlyconnected panels forming three side walls of the crate, a top panel, andfront panel means forming the fourth side Wall of the crate, said pallethaving a plurality of spaced parallel rails engaging the supportingsurface of the crate, a plurality of cross slats directly secured tosaid rails and extending perpendicular thereto, rabbeted portions on theends of said cross slats and along the outer longitudinal edges of theoutermost cross slats, said rabbeted portions overlying the rails todefine therewith grooves, said panels of said mat extending upwardlyfrom the pallet and having locking cleats secured along their bottomedges and received in the grooves of the pallet for interlocking thepallet and mat together, reinforcing vertical stiles secured to theouter sides of the opposed panels of said mat and extending from theupper edges of the panels to the bottom of the pallet and engaging thesupporting surface of the crate, said front panel means extending acrossthe other side of the crate and defining the fourth side Wall thereof, alocking cleat on said panel means coacting with the rabbeted peripheryof the pallet interlocking the panel means and pallet together, and saidtop panel extending over the side Walls and secured thereto.

2. The structure of claim 1, wherein the front panel means comprises apanel extending between the opposite open ends of the mat, and rockfasteners on opposite ends of the panel and the corresponding ends ofthe mat for securing the panel to the mat.

3. The structure of claim 1, wherein the front panel means comprises apair of doors sized to cooperatively extend between the opposite openends of the mat, the ends of said doors adjacent the open ends of themat being hingedly connected to the mat, and rock fasteners at the otherends of the doors for fastening them together.

4. The structure of claim 1, wherein the front panel means comprises apanel extending between the opposite open ends of the mat, one end ofthe panel being hingedly connected to the corresponding end of the mat,and rock fasteners carried by the other end of the panel and thecorresponding end of the mat for securing the panel and mat together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,288,598 Inwood Dec. 24, 1918 1,317,140 Lenke Sept. 23, 1919 1,661,527De Boer Mar. 6, 1928 2,048,667 Babcock July 28, 1936 2,177,507 WeillerOct. 24, 1939 2,178,213 Weiller Oct. 31, 1939 2,249,268 Boeye July 15,1941 2,420,640 Acteson May 20, 1947 2,710,094 Rau June 7, 1955 2,738,092Ladd Mar. 13, 1956 2,743,010 Koester Apr. 24, 1956

1. A WIREBOUND CRATE ADAPTED TO BE RECEIVED ON A FLAT SUPPORTINGSURFACE, SAID CRATE COMPRISING A PALLET, A MAT HAVING THREE HINGEDLYCONNECTED PANELS FORMING THREE SIDE WALLS OF THE CRATE, A TOP PANEL, ANDFRONT PANEL MEANS FORMING THE FOURTH SIDE WALL OF THE CRATE, SAID PALLETHAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED PARALLEL RAILS ENGAGING THE SUPPORTINGSURFACE OF THE CRATE, A PLURALITY OF CROSS SLATS DIRECTLY SECURED TOSAID RAILS AND EXTENDING PERPENDICULAR THERETO, RABBETED PORTIONS ON THEENDS OF SAID CROSS SLATS AND ALONG THE OUTER LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF THEOUTERMOST CROSS SLATS, SAID RABBETED PORTIONS OVERLYING THE RAILS TODEFINE THEREWITH GROOVES, SAID PANELS OF SAID MAT EXTENDING UPWARDLYFROM THE PALLET AND HAVING LOCKING